“My soul is consumed with longing
for your rules at all times.” Psalm 119.20
What does your soul long after?
What the psalmist displays here is not a passing desire. His soul “is consumed with longing . . . at all times.” This paints a comprehensive picture of devotion. His longings don’t take up a portion of his time, a segment of his focus. His soul is consumed by them, all the time.
What is the object of this longing? God’s rules. This speaks of God’s righteous, just judgments. The psalmist longs for the judgments of God—for his righteous standards of good and evil, right and wrong. This longing consumes him at all times. As he walks the stranger’s path in the world, he does not withhold times for satisfying his fleshly lusts. Instead, he longs at all times for the righteous rules of God.
Spurgeon offers rich insight on this longing. “Desires which can be put off and on like our garments are at best but mere wishes, and possibly they are hardly true enough to be called by that name – they are temporary emotions born of excitement, and doomed to die when the heat which created them has cooled down.”
Let me ask again, what does your soul long for? How does your life demonstrate an all-consuming longing to live according to God’s righteous judgments and standards? May we be consumed with longing after our Lord’s righteous judgments at all times.
Lord, we confess there are times when our desires falter, when we waver in our longing for your rules. Be gracious to us, O Father. Set our desires on you. Show us your ways and cause us to delight in them. Amen.